DR. JANET MOSS, COULWOOD STEM ACADEMY

At 20 years old, Janet Moss, Ed.D., remembers teaching her first high school class of seniors in an open classroom concept at a high-needs school in Alabama. There weren’t any walls, and teachers were encouraged to teach collaboratively. Moss said her “classroom” was a hallway.

But even in her small nook of space, she was still able to build meaningful relationships with her students.

“That experience in that high school really set the tone for the rest of my career,” she said.

Dr. Moss is the youngest of 10 kids and was the first person in her family to graduate from college. She went to Jacksonville State University in Alabama on an arts scholarship, but found her love for teaching while completing a work study job as a tutor. She taught night classes at the school and would help football players with their writing and composition.

“I was hooked,” she said. “As soon as I started tutoring, I found out who I was. It was amazing.”

Now, 30-plus years later, Dr. Moss can’t think of another field she’d rather be in. Her first 10 years in education she spent working in high school and the rest has been in middle school. After 20 years in the classroom, Dr. Moss felt that the time was right to expand her reach beyond her classroom.

Dr. Moss was an assistant principal at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School for six years before moving into the principal role at Coulwood STEM Academy. When Dr. Moss came to Coulwood 12 years ago — before it was a STEM school —- she said it was in a “needy state.” Proficiency scores were low, structures were needed, an identity was needed, and students and staff needed a culture shift.

Twelve years later, Dr. Moss says the staff treat each other like family, the school developed an identity when it became a magnet STEM program, and students believe in themselves. The 2023-24 scores released by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction show that Coulwood “exceeded growth” three consecutive school years. 

“She’s really a leader, not a boss,” said Josh Johnson, multiclassroom leader at Coulwood. Johnson met Dr. Moss nearly 12 years ago when he moved from Briarwood Academy to Martin Luther King Jr. Middle. “She understands what it’s like to be a teacher because she was for so long and still has that connection to the classroom. She allows us to be our best selves, and I think myself and the rest of the staff really appreciate that about her.”

“I’ve been here 22 years, and Dr. Moss changed the culture,” said Orlanda McCandies, behavior support technician. “There’s always an open-door policy with her. I can talk with her at any time about whatever. We do things the Coulwood way here and we all buy into it. She’s phenomenal.”

Dr. Moss was recognized as Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Middle School Performance Area B’s Principal of the Year finalist. Quandarius Anthony, teacher assistant and a former eighth grade student of Dr. Moss, told her that “she’s always been his principal of the year.”

“I’m super proud of her,” he said. “I saw the vision in her as a student, and she’s basically filling in those shoes. I just want to see her continue to get her flowers while she’s here.”